SRINAGAR: Minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that the statehood for Jammu & Kashmir would be granted after normalcy is restored.

Jammu and Kashmir lost its statehood following the abrogation of Article 370 and 37A in August 2019. The erstwhile state was then divided into the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

Rai was responding to a written query of Shiv Sena’s Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi who asked if the Centre had any proposal to reinstate the statehood of Jammu & Kashmir in the future.

The Minister in his reply further said that in view of the constitutional changes and bifurcation of the erstwhile state of the Jammu and Kashmir into Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Union territory of Ladakh, in the national interest and also in the interest of the security of J-K, temporary restrictions on various communication channels like internet and mobile services were resorted to Jammu and Kashmir.

“Subsequently, the matter was reviewed from time to time and restrictions imposed were gradually eased out in a phased manner and 4G internet data services were restored in the entire Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir with effect from February 5, 2021,” said Rai in his written reply on the matter.

He further stated that the number of militant incidents has reduced during 2020 by 59 per cent as compared to 2019 and 32 per cent upto June 2021 in comparison with the corresponding period up to June 2020.

Shops and business establishments, public transport, Government Offices, educational and health institutions, etc. are functioning normally in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir, said Rai.

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